Kim Jong-un's dictatorial regime in North Korea could be teetering on the edge of collapse - at least according to Chinese military chiefs, who have drawn up plans for how to deal with the end of his reign.

Chinese soldiers would capture the leaders of the North Korean government, set up their own refugee camps for displaced citizens and step up border patrols should the regime totter, according to leaked documents.

Strategists from the People's Liberation Army in China explain in the plans how they would gather up key figures from Kim Jon-un's Workers' Party of Korea, as well as the leaders of the Korean army, should unrest break out.

Scroll down for video

Teetering? Kim Jon-un, pictured with members of his military, could be detained in a Chinese camp if his regime collapses, according to leaked documents

China - which remains North Korea's only major ally - would offer the leaders their protection, but only while detaining them in camps where they could not lead Korean forces or make trouble for the Chinese, according to the plans.

Share this article

'Detained': The plans say North Korean leaders would be protected from foreign powers, but prevented from leading and military operations

They outline concerns that a 'military power' - thought to be the U.S. - could attempt to target the key personnel, which detaining the leaders would seek to prevent.

The secret documents detailing the plans were leaked to the Japanese media, and imagine a scenario in which 'foreign forces' bring about the collapse of the North Korean government, according to the Telegraph.

This, the Chinese army fears, could in turn lead to a mass exodus as millions try to escape across the border between North Korea and China, which spans almost 900 miles.

According to the plans, China would adopt a tough system of immigration checks along the border, in which new arrivals would be interrogated and have their identities scrutinised. Any known agitators would be turned away.

In response to the revelation, a foreign policy expert has warned that the leaking of the documents could be a sign that China thinks the end is coming soon.

Jun Okumura, of the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs, pointed out that China has probably had some kind of contingency plan for decades, but only chose to allow it to be released now.

He added: 'What we have learned from the collapse of other dictatorships – the Soviet Union, Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya – is that the more totalitarian the regime, the harder and faster they fall.'